Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King (GBA, 2005)
Graphics-8 Sound-7 Control-7 Challenge-7 Story-6.5
Level Design-6 Frustration-6.5/8* Fun-6 Originality-5
Overall Score-6
*Last two bosses
+
Metroid-style gameplay (ability gating (gum shoes - walk on red sticky walls, stretchy ghost - climb certain ceilings, blob form - move into tight spaces, pumpkin king form (ammo-based) - repeated air dashing, break certain walls with pumpkin bombs, hit switches with the boomerang), interconnected world, HP upgrades, upgradeable weapons)
Pretty good map system (shows your location, the layout and what you've explored; doesn't show room topology, can freeze enemies and use them as platforms with the gun gained very early on, )
Decent hazard variety
Some NPC encounters during exploration (at one point you get trapped and have to find a new way out of the area, they some times give directions)
Decent bosses overall (some have two phases, some huge sprites; pretty good: oogie's caterpillar)
Some interesting level gimmicks (platforms on water that respond the frog gun's air to push you backwards - MW4?, countdown exploding platforms - Yoshi's Island, decent timing-based puzzles in Jack's house)
Some shortcuts (there could've been more though and some are one-way only; some on rails flight segments as the dog that are used as such later on (getting out of your house via the chimney and getting from the pumpkin patch to the graveyard) - decent as mini-games, )
Pretty good intro and ending cutscenes (artwork and still with some minor animation), Very good animation and good overall art direction
Decent-pretty good dialogue overall
Unlock artwork by progressing through the game
Three mini-games (unlocked by progressing and separate from the main game, didn't try them)
+/-
Linear structure (linear progression between areas, linear progression through the last area, can get some collectables and HP upgrades in any order)
Some backtracking to previous areas with new abilities to progress
Pretty frequent save and healing points (electric chair). One slot per game
Texted dialogue tutorials (optional though)
Mostly useless collectables (random items scattered across the world)
The layout of an area is already revealed when entering it (spoils some of the fun of exploring)
Enemies respawn when exiting the room they spawned in
Dropped items disappear after a few seconds
Stretchy ghost ability works more like a key (should've worked more like in James Pond 2)
Stealth segment in one area (flying enemy that periodically scans the screen and you have to break line of sight with) - overly slow though
Timed segment in one area (includes a boss fight in the middle of it)
Some fetch quests
Pretty easy enemies for the most part
Some enemies seem ripped from the Igavania games
Opened one way locked doors (opened via boomerang switches) don't stay opened when moving to a different room however once you've upgraded your boomerang you can shoot through the doors and hit the switches
Can't shoot upwards in mid-air until upgrading the first weapon
The aerial variation of the water platforms (last area) are interesting on paper but slow and easy in practice
-
Some control/interface issues (can't shoot while climbing a ladder, slow ladder climbing, can't look up/down (some leaps of faith, loose downwards vertical scrolling), can't place map markers at points of interest and they aren't marked by the game, have to let go of the shot button for a sec to aim upwards, some movement delay when shooting - can't jump or duck cancel, if you attack right before landing then it's canceled, can't shoot downwards nor diagonally, kind clunky pumpkin bomb usage - can only do volley throws at one angle+can't throw while ducking, can't move normally l/r in pumpkin king form - just dash)
Some tedious aspects (the final bosses - long and arbitrary invincibility periods, some boring backtracking (kinda long detours for useless collectables which often also include some of the more challenging platforming segments, backtracking after the clownface mini-boss), enemies don't drop enough bomb or king form ammo in some areas, some instances of hitting another gate right after getting past one (Jack's House), the fire circle traps are annoying in that they move too slowly)
Some parts could flow better (for example the platforms early on that are placed so you have to use the clinging move over and over)
Some trial & error (drop down "puzzles" where you have to know a ghost block is on the way down and time your shot exactly right or you have to backtrack a vertical segment over and over (just a collectible reward for it too+it's repeated a couple of times later on), going the other way in the rail segments - can't see the obstacles in time)
Somewhat washed out and overly bright in-game visuals (not the cutscenes)
No hp refill after bosses
Kinda scratchy music samples
The "bat boomerang" isn't actually a boomerang
Pretty easy third (locust) boss)
Re-uses earlier enemies in various later areas - makes them feel less unique and overly easy at times
Kinda boring mini-bosses/search & destroy objectives in some areas (including clownface)
Not enough shortcuts and no teleporters (no dash move besides in the limited pumpkin king form)
Not enough breakable walls and hidden paths (no AP upgrades, some weapon upgrades but they're gained through story progression)
Moth boss is basically a battle of attrition because of its size and tanking the hits being a viable option
King form dashing isn't as flexible as shinesparking in Metroid for example
Weird how the upgraded bombs don't cause a blast if the pumpkin hits something before blowing up (makes them oddly weak for an ammo-based weapon and for how they appear)
Level Design-6 Frustration-6.5/8* Fun-6 Originality-5
Overall Score-6
*Last two bosses
+
Metroid-style gameplay (ability gating (gum shoes - walk on red sticky walls, stretchy ghost - climb certain ceilings, blob form - move into tight spaces, pumpkin king form (ammo-based) - repeated air dashing, break certain walls with pumpkin bombs, hit switches with the boomerang), interconnected world, HP upgrades, upgradeable weapons)
Pretty good map system (shows your location, the layout and what you've explored; doesn't show room topology, can freeze enemies and use them as platforms with the gun gained very early on, )
Decent hazard variety
Some NPC encounters during exploration (at one point you get trapped and have to find a new way out of the area, they some times give directions)
Decent bosses overall (some have two phases, some huge sprites; pretty good: oogie's caterpillar)
Some interesting level gimmicks (platforms on water that respond the frog gun's air to push you backwards - MW4?, countdown exploding platforms - Yoshi's Island, decent timing-based puzzles in Jack's house)
Some shortcuts (there could've been more though and some are one-way only; some on rails flight segments as the dog that are used as such later on (getting out of your house via the chimney and getting from the pumpkin patch to the graveyard) - decent as mini-games, )
Pretty good intro and ending cutscenes (artwork and still with some minor animation), Very good animation and good overall art direction
Decent-pretty good dialogue overall
Unlock artwork by progressing through the game
Three mini-games (unlocked by progressing and separate from the main game, didn't try them)
+/-
Linear structure (linear progression between areas, linear progression through the last area, can get some collectables and HP upgrades in any order)
Some backtracking to previous areas with new abilities to progress
Pretty frequent save and healing points (electric chair). One slot per game
Texted dialogue tutorials (optional though)
Mostly useless collectables (random items scattered across the world)
The layout of an area is already revealed when entering it (spoils some of the fun of exploring)
Enemies respawn when exiting the room they spawned in
Dropped items disappear after a few seconds
Stretchy ghost ability works more like a key (should've worked more like in James Pond 2)
Stealth segment in one area (flying enemy that periodically scans the screen and you have to break line of sight with) - overly slow though
Timed segment in one area (includes a boss fight in the middle of it)
Some fetch quests
Pretty easy enemies for the most part
Some enemies seem ripped from the Igavania games
Opened one way locked doors (opened via boomerang switches) don't stay opened when moving to a different room however once you've upgraded your boomerang you can shoot through the doors and hit the switches
Can't shoot upwards in mid-air until upgrading the first weapon
The aerial variation of the water platforms (last area) are interesting on paper but slow and easy in practice
-
Some control/interface issues (can't shoot while climbing a ladder, slow ladder climbing, can't look up/down (some leaps of faith, loose downwards vertical scrolling), can't place map markers at points of interest and they aren't marked by the game, have to let go of the shot button for a sec to aim upwards, some movement delay when shooting - can't jump or duck cancel, if you attack right before landing then it's canceled, can't shoot downwards nor diagonally, kind clunky pumpkin bomb usage - can only do volley throws at one angle+can't throw while ducking, can't move normally l/r in pumpkin king form - just dash)
Some tedious aspects (the final bosses - long and arbitrary invincibility periods, some boring backtracking (kinda long detours for useless collectables which often also include some of the more challenging platforming segments, backtracking after the clownface mini-boss), enemies don't drop enough bomb or king form ammo in some areas, some instances of hitting another gate right after getting past one (Jack's House), the fire circle traps are annoying in that they move too slowly)
Some parts could flow better (for example the platforms early on that are placed so you have to use the clinging move over and over)
Some trial & error (drop down "puzzles" where you have to know a ghost block is on the way down and time your shot exactly right or you have to backtrack a vertical segment over and over (just a collectible reward for it too+it's repeated a couple of times later on), going the other way in the rail segments - can't see the obstacles in time)
Somewhat washed out and overly bright in-game visuals (not the cutscenes)
No hp refill after bosses
Kinda scratchy music samples
The "bat boomerang" isn't actually a boomerang
Pretty easy third (locust) boss)
Re-uses earlier enemies in various later areas - makes them feel less unique and overly easy at times
Kinda boring mini-bosses/search & destroy objectives in some areas (including clownface)
Not enough shortcuts and no teleporters (no dash move besides in the limited pumpkin king form)
Not enough breakable walls and hidden paths (no AP upgrades, some weapon upgrades but they're gained through story progression)
Moth boss is basically a battle of attrition because of its size and tanking the hits being a viable option
King form dashing isn't as flexible as shinesparking in Metroid for example
Weird how the upgraded bombs don't cause a blast if the pumpkin hits something before blowing up (makes them oddly weak for an ammo-based weapon and for how they appear)